<p>Hey guys!</p>
<p>I'm in a bit of a dilemma right now.</p>
<p>I'm currently a high school sophomore in the U.S. I am an asian male. Up until high school, I've been a straight-A student. As soon as freshman year hit, a lot of internal problems (including many deaths within the family) made me incredibly depressed. I started to slack off in school and my grades started to slip. Freshman year went by in a flash and my once straight-A's had turned into B's. I ended the year with a ~3.6 GPA. Sophomore year came and I am taking 4 AP Courses (AP Chemistry, AP Macro/Micro, AP U.S. History). The increased courseload with all of them caused my depression to get even worse and my grades to slip even more. The year is almost over and my GPA is around a 3.3 UW. Weighted should be around a 3.7. I expect to get 5's on all my AP's, however. I have since seen a therapist and my final quarter grades as well as my academic dedication is starting to return to its original form.</p>
<p>I am taking the SAT I at the beginning of junior year. I have taken one already before freshman year and pulled a 2200 without extensive prep.</p>
<p>In terms of my EC's, I have...</p>
<p>10 years of classical piano
- Have solo performed at Carnegie Hall twice
Science Bowl regional finalist
Plan on taking the Chemistry Olympiad exam and advancing to/past states
Summer research work/lab intern at Yale chemistry professor's lab
Varsity Debater 4 years
- President of Debate Team
- State finalist two years in a row, Public Forum Debate
- Consistently top 20 debaters at national tournaments out of ~200 debaters
- Very high on debate rankings ladder: top 100 debaters in country, attended Tournament of Champions (most prestigious debate tournament in the country), NFL Nationals debater
- Volunteered with debate partner to go to underprivileged school districts and teach middle school students how to write analytically/persuasively, construct an argument, speak publicly
7 years of jazz trumpet
- State finalist
- Solo awards in State Finals for High School Jazz
- Volunteer with bandmates to go to middle schools and work with them on their music practice/teach them
Write for school newspaper (?)</p>
<p>Junior year is coming up and I am going to work my hardest to get straight-A's to boost my GPA. My junior year courseload is:</p>
<p>-English
-AP Statistics
-AP Biology
-AP Spanish/Honors Spanish
-AP Calculus AB
-Band
-AP World History</p>
<p>My resume looks slightly ok. I know I screwed myself over hard with my grades freshman year/half of sophomore year, but I hope I can explain that with the depression and better grades junior/senior year.</p>
<p>What can I do to improve my app and make up for my early shortfalls? I REALLY want to look at schools like Carnegie Mellon or another good school for science/medicine, but is that completely out my reach? Please help!</p>